1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to scouring powders which, at the same time, have a good cleaning effect with respect in particular to greasy soil and generate very little foam in use.
2. Statement of Related Art
Scouring powders are among the oldest and, even today, still indispensable cleaning materials which are used both in the home and institutionally for removing obstinate soils. The basic constituents of scouring powders are, on the one hand, the abrasive particles required for mechanically loosening obstinate soil and, on the other hand, surfactants as surface-active agents which are essential for the removal of greasy or fat-containing dirt. The scouring powders currently available on the market almost exclusively contain alkylbenzene sulfonates as surfactants and, from case to case, other active substances and auxiliaries such as, for example, bleaches and disinfectants, zeolites and alkaline salts. German patent applications DE 25 39 733 A1 and DE 27 39 776 A1 (Procter & Gamble) describe scouring liquids and powders in which the abrasive consists of perlite in a quantity of up to 65%. These documents refer mainly to this special abrasive and mention alkyl sulfates and alkylbenzene sulfonates as surfactants for the powders.
Canadian patent 1,048,365 (Procter & Gamble) describes abrasive powders having a high surfactant content of 20 to 35% and an abrasive content of 5 to 20% which are recommended both as scouring powders and as dishwashing detergents. Alkyl sulfates, alkylbenzene sulfonates and fatty alcohol ethoxylates are mentioned as surfactants. A common feature of the scouring powders known from the literature and available on the market is that they have a good cleaning effect with respect to greasy and fat-containing soil, but foam to an undesirably high degree in use. To avoid foaming, attempts have even been made to market pure abrasives without any addition whatever of surfactants. However, scouring powders such as these do not remove grease and, in addition, behave totally unsatisfactorily in use because they cannot be dispersed. Hitherto, it has not been possible to satisfy consumer demand for low-foaming scouring powders with a good cleaning effect.